Ridgway man pleads guilty to marijuana manufacturing

Paul E. Reynolds, 36, of Ridgway, pled guilty Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 in United States District Court in Benton to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiring with two other individuals to grow more than 100 marijuana plants and one count of actually growing more than 100 marijuana plants, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.

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The Carmi Times - Carmi, IL

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Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 8:00 AM

Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 8:00 AM

Paul E. Reynolds, 36, of Ridgway, pled guilty Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 in United States District Court in Benton to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiring with two other individuals to grow more than 100 marijuana plants and one count of actually growing more than 100 marijuana plants, announced Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois. The indictment, returned by a Federal Grand Jury on Sept. 5, 2012, alleged that the offenses occurred in Gallatin County between April 2012 and Aug. 29, 2012.

Sentencing was set for April 25, 2013, at the United States District Court in Benton. Reynolds faces between five and 40 years imprisonment, up to a $5 million fine, and four years to life on supervised release to follow incarceration on each count.

Reynolds' codefendant, Daniel J. Fulkerson, 39, also from Ridgway, pled guilty to the same charges last month. His sentencing was set for April 11, 2013.

Reynolds has been held without bond on the federal charges since Sept. 11, 2012, and was again remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal to await sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Carmi office of the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James M. Cutchin.